But they could have to up their offer if they want to land the Napoli defender in time to kick-off the Premier League season.

The Swans are piling their energies into landing a new centre-back as Chico Flores puts the finishing touches to his surprise switch to Qatari football with Michael Laudrup’s Lekhwiya.

Swansea are set to recoup more than £4m from the deal and - coupled with a cash boost from Pablo Hernandez’s soon-to-be-completed move to the same league with Al Arabi – they are ready to hand it all to boss Garry Monk as he seeks a replacement for Chico.

Monk had been eyeing up a new centre-half all summer and Fernandez is their No.1 target having first emerged on the club’s radar a year ago.

Now they are ready to sanction a big money move for the 25-year-old who started four of Argentina’s games in Brazil as they made it to the World Cup final.

Seen as a physical defender who is comfortable in possession, Fernandez has been identified as a good potential partner for Ashley Williams.

But Napoli – who ruled out initial attempts to land Fernandez on loan as part of the deal that took Michu to Serie A - are thought to be hesitating on sanctioning his exit until they line-up a replacement of their own.

It could mean Swansea will have to raise the stakes to land the highly-rated international, but the club may not want to risk such an expensive move with Monk still keen to land cover at right-back, in central midfield and out wide before the end of the transfer window.